


The Cracks in the Earth

by FictionSenpai



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Broken Mentor, Dark Past, Emotional Baggage, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Nightmares, Opening Up, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tender Feelings, learning to love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28464711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionSenpai/pseuds/FictionSenpai
Summary: [Post Re:Mind] When his body, heart, and mind were torn apart and then put back together over a decade later, everyone just assumed Terra was all right again...but the more that time passes, the more Riku begins to realize all the ways in which he's not.
Relationships: Riku/Terra (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	1. A Voice in the Dark

* * *

* * *

It had been the dead of night when he heard the words resonate in his heart, and he had set out immediately without a second thought. It wasn't as though he knew where he was going or how to get there, but the echoes of a secret promise led Riku beyond the realm of the worlds he had traversed to a place he had never been without explanation. What had Master Yen Sid said?

_May your heart be your guiding key._

Or, perhaps he just wanted to prove himself. A test, like the Mark of Mastery. The longest test he had ever taken, one he barely remembered starting when he was only a child.

But time was a funny thing, and he was no longer a child as he stood resolutely in the grand marble hall centered within Castle Oblivion – no. The place was hardly recognizable anymore.

_The Land of Departure._

The man standing across for him had not aged a day since Riku had seen him last, however, all those years ago. A remnant of the briefest, barely-formed memories, and yet as Riku stood before the mentor he had never had, a look of understanding passed between them, as though they had known each other the whole time.

“Well,” Terra uttered. “Look at you.”

“Thanks,” Riku said, the barest of smiles passing over his face. “I finally fulfilled my promise to you.”

Terra nodded softly. “You did. Now there's nothing left for me to teach you. You're a true keyblade master...not to mention a great leader to those around you. You've even found the strength to save your friends.”

The familiar words jogged Riku's distant memory, the sentiment echoing faintly through his head – one he had held on to for most of his life, without even realizing it.

_Strength to protect what matters._

But then...

“It's not enough,” Riku said simply.

He hadn't been able to save Kairi – Sora had. And now...Sora was gone. Riku hadn't saved him either. At least, not yet.

Unexpectedly, he was drawn from his thoughts by a pair of large hands coming down on his shoulders as Terra crossed toward him...and to his surprise, Riku realized that he was almost as tall as Terra by now. In his memory, he was always gazing upward at the towering stranger who had come to his island so long ago...

“The very fact that you were able to make your way here proves just how strong you are,” Terra explained, gripping Riku's shoulders reassuringly. “That's why I called for you.”

In the midst of his ruminations, Riku faltered suddenly.

_...What?_

It took him a moment to process the words, but once he had, he was just as perplexed. In the back of his mind, he felt suddenly foolish for setting out the way he had, blindly and with such urgency, racing through the Lanes Between without even knowing why...and for what? All because in the dead of the darkest night, he had heard the still, small voice that had stayed with him for so long call out to his heart from a distant land.

But then...what kind of mentor would pull something like that, anyway?

There was a blank silence.

“... _That's_ the reason?” Riku blurted out, and he saw a smile tug at the corners of Terra's mouth at the incredulity in his voice.

“You expected more?” he mused.

Riku stared at him.

“Well...yes,” he said blankly.

Terra stared back at him for a few moments, just as the massive marble doors at the far end of the vast chamber in which they stood yawned slowly open before the only other two residents left within the Land of Departure. A look of surprise passed over both Aqua and Ven's faces as they entered in time to find both Terra and Riku burst into laughter, the sound echoing merrily off the high ceilings above them and bouncing from the walls. A wide grin spread immediately over Ven's face as the sound, and he was the first to come bounding up to the pair of them.

“Hey you two...what's so funny?!” he said eagerly, his eyes alight as he gazed up at Terra.

Terra chuckled a little and folded his arms wryly.

“It's a secret,” he mused, turning on his heel away from Ven and striding idly off toward the sprawling steps that led up to the masters' observatory at the head of the room.

“What?!”

Riku chuckled again as Ven bounded after Terra in indignation, then glanced over as he felt Aqua pause at his side.

She wasn't looking at him, however...her gaze was straight ahead, watching Ven chase Terra up the marble steps before them. Riku studied her profile for a moment, but couldn't get a read on her, and she didn't say anything to him, either. Maybe it was the task ahead of them, he reasoned, that had her lost in her thoughts.

“...Are you sure about this?” he prompted finally, and after a pause, Aqua finally tore her eyes away from her two friends to look over at him.

“Yes,” she said firmly, meeting his gaze. “But don't worry. I'm not alone this time.”

She offered him a slight smile, and Riku's eyes followed her as she walked forward to join Terra and Ven...he wondered what it was like for them, to be back together after so long.

 _I hope...it doesn't take us that long to find Sora._ He paused, then shook his head at his own ruminations. _Yeah right. He'll be late about it, but he'll show up in the end like usual. And with all these people looking for him..._

Pulled from his thoughts, he squinted against the brilliant flash of light that illuminated the great hall, gazing on in awe as the mystical armor he had heard so much about donned the forms of the keyblade trio before him.

It was as Aqua and Ven were disappearing inside the deep, swirling portal they had conjured to the Realm of Darkness that Riku saw Terra pause, and turn briefly to face him. Even with his features obscured by the familiar helmet of the lingering specter that Riku had stood before briefly before their final battle with Master Xehanort, he could feel Terra's gaze burning into him, and he stared back unflinchingly.

 _Take care._ He didn't say it, but somehow, he knew Terra understood, and after a moment, he was watching his lost mentor's back again as he was swallowed up by the surrounding portal.

It had been a year since Riku had set foot on the sprawling marble floors inside the castle, and the Land of Departure had changed in his absence. Empty and devoid of any occupants, the light and life of the ornate halls seemed to have dimmed, and as he stood before the three empty chairs overlooking that same chamber in which he had said goodbye to its new rulers, he could see particles of dust drifting lazily through the light streaming in from high-arching windows.

Riku waited patiently, a slight but expectant smile on his face, though it wasn't immediately clear what he was waiting for. Even so, it wasn't long before a pinprick of light caught his eye at the top of the marble steps, and he stirred a little at the sight of it. Slowly, it began to grow and expand outwards, and the scent of darkness that he had become so familiar with began prevalent in the room as the portal yawned open.

Ven bounded through first, his armor clattering loudly throughout the still, silent hall. In his wake, Aqua followed, stepping out more gracefully and then turning to look over her shoulder as Terra brought up the rear, seeing the other two out as he exited the portal, which pulsated and closed up a few moments later behind him.

“Riku!” Aqua called to him, as Ven waved.

“Hey,” Riku greeted as the three armored figures descended the sprawling steps before him, closing one eye for a moment as a brilliant shine filled the room.

As it cleared a moment or so later, he could see Ven's unmasked face beaming at him as he approached, still waving enthusiastically...Aqua's gaze was warm as she fixed it on him, and behind her, Terra offered him a swift nod, their eyes meeting for just a moment.

“Good to have you back,” Riku said to them, setting a hand on his hip. “Did everything go okay?”

“Yes.” Aqua banished her keyblade, and Terra and Ven followed suit as they came up to Riku – despite the time that had passed, Riku noted, Ven hadn't grown at all; but time, he knew, passed differently in the Realm of Darkness, if at all. “Although...”

“What is it?”

Aqua sighed, and lowered her head a little as she glanced away. “I'm sorry, Riku. There was no sign of Sora.”

Riku looked unperturbed, however, and he tossed her a reassuring smile. “Hey, don't worry about it. It was worth a shot, right? Besides, we have some leads on our end.”

“Really? That's good,” Aqua breathed, sounding relieved.

“Actually,” Riku continued, as Terra and Ven continued past him toward the end of the great hall, “that's kind of why I'm here. Terra.”

“...Hm?”

Terra paused, turning to look back over his shoulder toward Riku, his expression guarded but not unkind. Undeterred, Riku turned full to face him, setting his hand back on his hip.

“I have a favor to ask.”

He had talked to Yen Sid already, and even King Mickey. Kairi, after all, would be training under Aqua before long, and to Riku it was only natural that he follow suit before he set out on a new journey into the greater unknown to get Sora back. That kind of adventure needed more than just the strength to protect what mattered, and in Riku's mind, there was only one person who could help him with that.

“Yen Sid has sensed something in the land with no time,” Riku elaborated. “He wants you to go and investigate it, and...I want to go with you. As your apprentice.”

Terra often said more with his expressions than his words, in Riku's opinion. At the request, he turned more fully around with a look of perplexed incredulity on his face, which would have been comical under less dire circumstances.

“What?” Terra shook his head a little, then smiled softly. “...Between the two of us, you know who the Master is, right?”

Riku set his hand on his hip. “You may be missing the title, but not the skill...even Yen Sid said so. Besides...I'm a self-trained keyblade master. I know how to fight, but a lot of the knowledge passed down from generations of keyblade wielders has never been taught to me.”

Terra watched him in mild surprise, but Riku held his gaze...stubbornness had always been his strong suit, for better or for worse, and Terra was going to have do so a whole lot more than _look_ at him to change his mind.

“There's something I have to do to save Sora,” he went on. “To do it, I have to go somewhere I've never been before – somewhere _none_ of us have ever been before. There's no telling what I'll find there, and if I have to save Sora, I'm gonna need all the help I can get. I want you to teach me, Terra.”

Terra was quiet for a few moments, but then turned away again.

“Sorry. It's like I said before...I have nothing left to teach you.”

Riku took a step forward after him, taken aback by the finality in his tone so soon. “Hey – wait! What about what Yen Sid –,”

“I'll head out tomorrow to take a look,” Terra said gently without turning around, starting toward the exit at the end of the long hall with Riku hot on his heels as he strode away. “Aqua's training with your friend Kairi will start soon. Maybe you can –,”

“Terra.” Aqua looked up, and he paused at the sound of her voice. “I think you should take Riku with you.”

Terra paused, glancing back at her in surprise.

“You too?” he asked quietly in exasperation, and Aqua smiled, nodding as she came up behind Riku and set a hand on his shoulder.

“Sounds like a great idea to me,” she affirmed.

“But –,”

“Come on,” Riku insisted.

Terra regarded the two of them for a moment, and then sighed audibly, his shoulders slumping a little.

“...Fine,” he amended finally, turning away once more. “If that's what you want. Riku...will you be ready to leave in the morning?”

“You bet.”

“Hey – I wanna go too!” Ven interjected, running to Terra's side to peer up at him, hands clenched enthusiastically. “I'm not a keyblade master yet either...let me come with, Terra!”

“No, Ven.” Terra shook his head. “We don't know what we're dealing with yet. You stay here with Aqua.”

“Aw, come on!”

“You're too young!”

“Am not!”

Riku looked on in mild amusement as Terra slung an arm around Ven's shoulders to ruffle his hair as they started to make their way out of the grand hall again, wrestling him easily into a headlock.

Aqua stepped forward to stand at Riku's side, following his gaze as Ven's laughter ricocheted off the polished marble, and after a moment, he looked over at her.

“Thanks,” he said, and she offered a slight smile.

“Of course.” She shook her head a little. “Maybe I'm the one who should be thanking you.”

“Why'd you convince him to go along with it, anyway?”

Aqua lowered her head then, silent for a few moments before she lifted her eyes to Terra's back as he wrestled with Ven in the distance.

“I...”

“What?”

Aqua shook her head. “I thought...it might be a good idea for you two to spend more time together. That's all.”

Riku did a slight double-take.

“You did?” he asked, surprised. “How come?”

Aqua wasn't usually this hesitant to have a conversation, he thought...maybe she had been hanging around Terra too much in the Realm of Darkness, and he'd rubbed off on her.

“...Well...it's...about when you came to visit us before...”

Something in her tone caught Riku's attention then, and he looked over at her. Aqua sighed, still gazing straight ahead.

“It's just...” she uttered softly. “That day? That's the first time I've heard Terra laugh since we left home ten years ago.”

* * *

* * *


	2. The Lingering Specter

They would need to use the Lanes Between to get to the land without time, and so as Riku approached the hefty, bronzed-gold glider hovering a foot off the ground in the heart of the Land of Departure's center terrace the following morning, he was already donning his black Organization coat over his regular clothes. Terra, he saw, was in full armor as he sat atop his transformed keyblade, one hand resting lightly on the handlebars as Riku approached.

“I'm ready,” Riku stated, looking up at him.

“You're really sure about this?”

Riku threw him a confident smile. “Yeah. I'm sure.”

He swung himself up onto the back of Terra's glider and summoned his keyblade, pointing it over Terra's armored shoulder to open a portal up ahead of them.

“Riku...”

“Hm?”

Terra didn't turn around, however, and after a moment of silence, he merely shook his head.

“Hold on tight.”

The glider started forward, and Riku leaned forward to wrap his arms around Terra's waist as they sped toward the portal, the light around them fading away as they disappeared into the Lanes Between.

Silence fell around them, deafeningly. There was no noise at all, and no light except for the glow of distant worlds. It reminded Riku of the Corridors of Darkness he had traversed so many times, except instead of the scent of Darkness pressing in around them, it was simply...nothingness. Everything was empty.

He looked up over Terra's shoulder into his face, but Terra's gaze was straight ahead, and he said nothing to Riku as they hurtled through the lane with nothing but the low hum of the glider to keep them company.

_Guess neither of us are big talkers, huh?_

Riku leaned into Terra's back a little. He had been on his own for so long now that he wasn't even sure he knew _how_ to talk to people anymore. It was easy when he was with Sora – it wasn't like anyone else could get a word in anyway with Sora around – but being around Terra was different from Sora, or even the King. Riku guessed it was probably the same for Terra, too. He had heard the accounts of Terra, Aqua, and Ven's stories by now, from the time Master Xehanort came to oversee their Mark of Mastery exam ten years ago to the day the three of them had disappeared. They had all gone their separate ways on a long journey, much like Sora and Riku had, but along the way, it seemed that Aqua and Ven had met many friends and allies...they had stayed close to the light, and it had guided them. Terra's story, on the other hand, was the one that felt more familiar to Riku. A journey of solitude, with the throes of darkness nipping at his heels along every step of the way.

Riku wondered if, like him, Terra had found someone like the King to turn to when the last light had started to fade.

The silence coiled and tightened around them, and Riku's mind drifted back to Aqua's words as he settled deeper into his own thoughts.

“ _That day? That's the first time I've heard Terra laugh since we left home ten years ago.”_

Riku wasn't sure he understood, but one thing he did know was that Aqua couldn't have picked a worse person for the job...

“ _So...now what?”_

_Aqua turned away._

“ _I don't know,” she admitted. “But whatever's going on...I thought maybe he'd talk to you.”_

“ _Me? Why?” Riku shook his head incredulously. “You and Ven are his best friends, right? If he won't talk to either of you, then what good can I do?”_

_A small but reassuring smile played across Aqua's face for a moment as she looked over his shoulder at him._

“ _A special bond exists between a keyblade wielder and the one that they bequeath the power of the keyblade to,” she explained lightly. “It's a bond stronger and more precious than you think.”_

_Riku shook his head._

“ _But...that was so long ago,” he pointed out. “I didn't see him again for ten years after that happened. Anyway – who passed on the power of the keyblade to Terra in the first place? They might be better suited.”_

_Aqua's smile faded a little then, and Riku realized belatedly as she turned away that he had said the wrong thing. Without knowing why, he suddenly felt his heart sinking._

“ _The one Terra shared that bond with...” Aqua uttered softly at last, “...that was our late master, Eraqus.”_

Riku sighed. Aqua had more faith in him than she should, in his opinion. Even if there _was_ something weighing on Terra's mind, Riku didn't think he had ever been very good at cheering people up...that was always Sora's job. In fact, not only was Riku not very good at making others feel better, he was actually notoriously bad at it. The number of times he had made Kairi cry when they were kids without meaning to...

He shook his head. His best bet was to study under Terra as well as he could and then get Sora back as soon as possible...maybe Sora could help. Far more than he could, anyway...

He felt Terra stir suddenly, and pulled back slightly to look up at him.

“What is it?”

“...Something's wrong.”

A moment later, Riku sensed it too. On instinct, he summoned his keyblade – Terra's was currently transporting them through the Lanes Between, so if danger was near, it would be up to Riku's Braveheart to keep them safe.

“What the –,”

But before he could find the source of the sudden discord, something impacted heavily with the side of the glider, and they spun wildly off course through empty space...with great effort, Terra managed to ease them out of the spiral and regain control, heaving the vehicle around to face the direction from which they had been struck.

Riku's eyes scanned their surroundings wildly, and after a moment he spotted a dark shape racing through the ethereal shadows of the in-between, squinting as he tried to make out what it was.

Some kind of Heartless? Or...

For just a moment, he caught a flash of something, and his eyes widened, keyblade still outstretched to guard both Terra and himself from attack.

“Was that a...Dream Eater?”

“Hang on,” Terra said roughly, and he veered the glider sharply onto a new course, heading straight for the nearest exit point of the Lanes Between.

“Whoa – hey!”

Riku swayed a little, tightening his remaining arm around Terra's waist to keep from being thrown off, and twisted to look behind them. The Nightmare – he was sure that's what it was, he had seen the symbol emblazoned on it – was in pursuit of them, though it was shrouded so deeply in the darkness billowing around it that he couldn't make out its shape.

“What are you doing?” he called to Terra. “Turn around – I can fight it. I've seen these things before –,”

“Forget it,” Terra said tersely, his armored shoulders rigid as he continued to race toward the faint light of a world up ahead.

“Huh?” Riku shook his head. “But – you're going the wrong way, Yen Sid said –,”

The creature lunged at them again, but this time Riku was ready – it ricocheted away from him as he parried the blow with his keyblade, and he cast a glowing ball of dark fire after it.

“What's a Dream Eater doing all the way out here?” Riku wondered aloud, then faltered as his attack sank into the darkness ensnaring the Nightmare and faded away. “It's strong...”

“All the more reason to get out of here,” Terra uttered. “We're at a disadvantage in this place anyway.”

The Dream Eater lunged again, with such force that even as Riku deflected the attack, the glider veered and wobbled for a moment.

“I can't get a good look at it,” Riku growled. “All right, let's do this.”

Wary of his balance, he let go of Terra and turned around on the glider to face the monster in pursuit of them, gripping his keyblade tightly in one hand and waiting for it to come in close again.

“Come on...” He saw the darkness billow around it and grinned. “Gotcha!”

He disappeared from the back of the vehicle, casting Dark Aura over himself and diving down repeatedly through the cloud of darkness to strike their hidden enemy...he felt the blows connect with something hard, as though striking armor, and he disappeared again before the creature could retaliate.

Terra glanced very slightly over his shoulder as Riku's weight re-materialized on his glider, and Riku craned his neck upward toward the Dream Eater, smirking in satisfaction as the dark tendrils surrounding it withered a little...a few moments later, the creature seemed to fade away into the nothingness.

“Heh.” Riku banished his keyblade, rubbing his nose a little. “Nothing to it.”

Terra turned to face forward again, his grip tightening on the handlebars.

“I'm not so sure,” he said quietly, and Riku looked over at him.

“What do you –,”

WHAM.

Suddenly, Riku found himself tumbling, flying through the empty void and into the surrounding nothingness from the force of the blow that came up from underneath them. The concept of up or down was lost to him entirely, and he wasn't sure if he was floating or falling, which direction he was going in or where the next attack would come from.

It was a few moments before he could stop and right himself, moving a hand to his head for a moment to shake it clear, looking dazedly through the ethereal space surrounding him as he tried to get his bearings.

“Riku!”

The sound of Terra's voice reached him immediately from above – or was it below? – and he twisted his body toward the sound, catching sight of an armored hand reaching toward him.

“Terra!”

Riku managed to grab Terra's forearm at the same time Terra grabbed his, the two of them spinning around one another from the residual force of the attack...in the distance, he could see the smoking glider spiraling away from them, sparking and charred.

“Look out!”

Riku's eyes found the Nightmare at the same time that Terra spoke...it was hurtling toward them at full speed, the darkness blooming and billowing out around it. For just a moment, Riku was sure he caught a glimpse of its outline, a vague sense of familiarity coming over him, but then all at once, he couldn't see it at all.

_...What...?_

Riku faltered, his eyes widening as he found himself face-to-face with Terra's chest, not expecting the protective arms suddenly enveloping him within them, or the armored body moving between him and the Nightmare as it closed in on its next attack.

For a split second, he managed to lift his eyes up over Terra's shoulder, saw the creature rise up behind him – and then, nothing.

The last thing that Riku expected to see when he first cracked open his eyes was a bright blue sky up above him. He stared at it dazedly for a few moments, watching the wisps of cloud moving across it, and it took him a moment to realize what it was.

 _My...island?_ he thought faintly. _No..._

He'd know the skies of the Destiny Islands anywhere. This was similar, but...

Riku stirred a little, then groaned at how heavy his limbs felt. Almost as though a greater weight was bearing down on him...

He lifted his head up off the ground, and with a sudden jolt, he found another person on top of him...Terra's scuffed face was slack, his body still draped limply over Riku's as Riku slowly began to sit up with him, his armor was nowhere in sight. Riku guessed it must have absorbed the full force of the attack from the Nightmare that had accosted them before they fell.

_Good thing he grabbed me, or we may not even have ended up in the same world._

“Terra.” Riku shook him lightly, his hand resting carefully against his mentor's side to keep him from falling into the grass again. “Hey – Terra – wake up.”

Terra's eyebrows knitted together, and Riku felt him stir a little...after a few moments, he began to sit up, moving a hand to his head.

“Nhh...” His eyes found the younger wielder through his fingers, and he sighed in relief. “Riku.”

Riku sat back as well in relief, drawing one knee up and resting his elbow atop it.

“Looks like we made it. That was a close one,” he said.

“Yeah...” Terra lowered his hand and looked around. “Where are we?”

Riku shook his head, looking around as well. Beneath the bright blue skies, they found themselves halfway down a grassy valley, large crags rising up on either side of them around the winding path into which they had fallen. The air was sweet and slightly warm, but there was nothing about the sights and smells of the mysterious world that Riku recognized.

“Could be anywhere,” he admitted, and Terra sighed.

“Guess you're right,” he said, starting to his feet.

The pathway branched, but it was like a maze, and Riku couldn't see any signs of people, or even civilization. He heard Terra getting up as well.

“Come on, we can't stay here. We'd better – nrgh.”

“Hey – you okay?” Riku asked, glancing behind himself as Terra faltered on the way up, reaching across his body to his ribcage.

“Unh...” Terra expelled a low breath, but then straightened the rest of the way up. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a hard landing.”

Riku dusted off his Organization cloak before shrugging it from his shoulders and putting it away.

“No kidding. What was the deal with that Nightmare?” Riku shook his head. “Seemed kind of familiar...”

Terra glanced briefly toward him, then away again.

“You've seen it?” he asked, but Riku shook his head.

“No, I've never fought one that powerful before,” he admitted, rolling his shoulder a little, which was still sore from the force of the blows he'd had to parry.

“I see.”

Riku paused, then glanced up toward Terra's profile, studying him for a moment.

“Terra – have _you_ seen it before?” he asked, but Terra was already turning away from him entirely, and he didn't respond right away.

“Maybe,” he said finally, then shook his head. “...I don't know. Forget it.”

“All right.” Riku wanted to press further, but turned to start down the path they found themselves on instead. “Guess there's no point in worrying about it now. We better get going. Maybe we'll run into someone who can tell us where we –,”

“Ngh...”

Riku turned in time to see Terra sink back onto one knee, leaning forward as he clutched the left side of his ribs...Riku's brow creased sharply, and he turned on his heel to hurry back over, dropping to one knee beside him and setting a hand on his shoulder.

“You're hurt,” he accused, his eyes sweeping down over his mentor's broad back...then did a double take, his eyes widening as he caught sight of a large gash through the padded material of Terra' shirt beneath his fingers, around the back of his rib cage. “What the...”

Terra flinched again, his teeth clenched...Riku could see faint tendrils of darkness flickering around the wound like flames as he pulled Terra's large hand away, resting his own right above the area in concern.

“The Nightmare,” he realized aloud. “That last attack broke through your armor.”

_The one you shielded me from._

Terra grimaced again, his eyes shutting tightly for a moment. “It's nothing...”

But Darkness continued to lick at the gash in his side, and Riku knew from experience that he was lying.

“Nothing hurts like a wound caused by dark magic,” he said bluntly, glancing away a little – he spoke not as someone who had been on the receiving end, but because he had dealt blows just like that one, once upon a time. “Cure magic and potions are no good, either.”

“I'll be fine.”

Riku looked around, but the surrounding cliffs were nondescript; no shelter in sight, and no signs of life.

“Come on,” he uttered. “Your ribs are probably broken from the impact. Let's just get out of here before something happens and find somewhere to rest.”

He ducked down and pulled Terra's free arm around his shoulders, wrapping his own arm carefully around the older wielder's waist as he rose to his feet.

“Think you can make it?”

Terra closed one eye for a moment, but then looked down at Riku with a slight smile.

“Yeah. Let's go.”

The winding cliffs seemed endless as the sun made its way across the bright blue sky, giving way to a soft orange twilight that cooled the sweet-smelling air and warned of the impending darkness that threatened to settle over them before they found their way out.

Clambering up the side of one of the lower cliff walls to its grassy peak, Riku lifted one hand to shield his eyes from the setting sun and squinted over the landscape...they still had a ways to go, by the looks of it, but he could see a valley far beyond where the rock faces cleared and gave way to a sea of distant, rolling green hills.

_Not gonna make it there tonight._

He sighed and slid back down the side of the cliff, the dust rising up around his boots as he landed.

“Any luck?” Terra asked, resting one hand against the rock face.

Riku shook his head.

“We better find somewhere to lay low,” he relented. “Still a ways to go. Looks like...some kind of castle in the distance, though.”

“A castle?” Terra frowned and lowered his eyes...Riku studied him for a few moments, trying to read his expression.

“Think of something?” he asked, but Terra shook his head.

“There's just...something familiar about this place, that's all.” He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. “It's probably nothing. So – camping out, huh?”

Riku grinned and shrugged as well. “There are worse places.”

“Oh yeah?” Terra smiled a little and jerked his head over his shoulder. “I think I saw a clearing a short ways back. Good a place as any...”

He faltered as he turned in the direction he was speaking of to start walking, falling forward a little as he slumped more heavily against the side of the cliff with a slight grunt.

“Hey, easy,” Riku said, moving to Terra's side as Terra wrapped an arm around his thin waist, clenching his teeth. “Come on.”

Reluctantly, Terra let Riku guide him away from the wall and start back up the path's incline again in the direction they had come from, pointing out the gap to the clearing he had noticed as they came across it.

It was a small area, a few trees dotted about the lush grass and a small body of water set off to one side...Terra frowned as they drew closer, looking around as Riku leaned him against one of the trees and coughing a little.

“This world...I think I've been here before,” he murmured.

Riku folded his arms. “Yeah?”

Terra shook his head. “Maybe. I can't place it.”

“Well, maybe after we get outta these cliffs, something will jog your memory,” Riku suggested. “At least then we'll be able to figure out where we are.”

Terra lapsed into silence, thinking, but in the end he simply shook his head again.

Before long, a small fire was crackling and spitting quietly in the small, darkened clearing, roasting the scant smattering of ingredients they had found dotted about the area. Idly, Riku speared a mushroom on the end of a stick and turned it slowly over the flames, his head propped up in his hand as he lay on his side. Alongside him, Terra sat with his back against the nearby tree trunk, his elbows resting over his knees as he watched the flames dance in the darkness. Neither felt the need to talk much, content to be in one another's company in silence as night fell around them...there had been no sign of the Heartless thus far, and certainly not any Dream Eaters, and the dull hum of nearby crickets made for an almost peaceful evening.

Even so, as time went on Riku found himself restless; he didn't like being out in the open in the dark, not even at home on the islands. After a while, he expelled a sigh and pushed himself back to his feet.

“I'm gonna look around again,” he said, tossing aside the stick he had been twirling idly through his fingers.

Terra let him go, eyes following his movements, but when the younger wielder did come back, he spoke.

“Trust your instincts.”

“Huh?” Riku started, looking down as he passed...he hadn't expected Terra to say anything.

Terra smiled a little.

“It's written all over your face,” he murmured. “You're trying to tell yourself you need to stay on guard, but you don't sense any danger.”

Riku rubbed the back of his head. “Just because I don't sense it doesn't mean –,”

“Doesn't it?” Terra leaned back against the tree a little more, resting an arm lightly around his ribs.

Riku lapsed into silence.

“You've been close enough to the Darkness to know when it's drawing near,” Terra continued, resting his other elbow against his knee again. “In fact...you might know the Darkness better than anyone. You're the only person I've met who's shone a light into its deepest depths...if anyone could recognize it before it recognized them, it'd be you.”

Startled, Riku looked over at him, faltering a little as he did so. “...But I...”

“Stop thinking about it.” Terra watched dryly as Riku glanced around the area again. “Close your eyes. Use your heart, not that hard head of yours.”

“Hey –!”

Terra smiled softly again, and Riku expelled a sigh, resigning to bow his head and close his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest.

“Just trust yourself.”

Riku bowed his head further, his brow knitting a little in concentration. He could feel the night breeze playing across his face, and the warmth of the nearby fire...and the night around them, which was still and silent.

 _That scent..._ His frown deepened. _It's Darkness, but...it's the remnants. There was a great darkness in this world long ago...but...it's not here anymore. It's gone, and it's only left traces of itself behind..._

There was little else; not for miles and miles. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't smell anything...couldn't sense anything. Just himself...and Terra, whose scent was somehow more familiar to him than people he had spent his entire life around. A scent that had come to him only once after his childhood, in Sora's dreams after winning the fight against Xehanort's younger self. A great, dark entity had risen up in front of him, as though seeking him out in the aftermath of the battle, and in that moment, for Riku it was as though he was all of five years old again, standing on the warm sandy beaches of the Destiny Islands as a tall stranger knelt before him, and summoned a mysterious, mystical blade shaped like a key...

 _I know you,_ he had thought as he looked up at it, lifting the powerful weapon he had inherited up to its twisted gaze. _Don't worry._

He had watched as it turned away, and before his eyes, it faded into darkness.

At the time, he had never even known the name of the one who had bestowed the power of the keyblade on him, or how he had fallen to the Darkness. Part of him thought that the creature fading away before his eyes was the last glimpse he would ever have of him.

Riku opened his eyes again and looked over at Terra, who was watching him expectantly. Riku shook his head.

“You're right,” he admitted. “There's nothing.”

“You were the one who was right all along,” Terra pointed out. “You just didn't believe you were.”

Riku laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head again. “...Guess so. Hey...how's your back?”

He moved to kneel down at Terra's side, reaching behind him to take a look at his ribs.

“I told you, it's nothing –,”

Riku set a hand on his back to coax him to lean forward, holding his shoulder lightly to steady him as his gaze swept over the wound. His expression sobered...the faint wisps of Darkness were still flickering across the deep gash, but around it, the skin visible through the tear in his shirt was beginning to turn black, like spilled ink sinking into parchment...the dark that the shrouded Nightmare had struck with was spreading.

“Hey...” He let Terra lean back again, studying his profile, but as he did so he could tell Terra already knew; up close, Riku could see sweat dotting his skin in the firelight despite his lighthearted tone, his quiet breathing very slightly labored.

Nonetheless, he smiled reassuringly when he felt Riku's eyes on him, shaking his head a little.

“I'll be fine,” he murmured. “...I just...have to find a way to take care of it once we get out here...”

“Yeah. We will...count in it. But...” Riku looked him up and down. “Right now, it's still hurting you...”

His fingers rested against Terra's back in concern, his eyes sweeping over his injured mentor, and he wished he had a way to reach the King...that would be just who they needed in a situation like this, even if Terra was already shaking his head in response.

“It's...not so bad – g-ghh...”

“Whoa!” Riku reached out without thinking to catch Terra as he began to fall, and the older wielder collapsed sideways against his chest a moment later, the impact nearly upsetting Riku's balance in the process.

His eyes widened, and he heard a quiet, pained groan slip out under Terra's breath as he curled up in discomfort, sensed the darkness slowly seeping deeper into his body as it spread out from his wound, making him weak...

Riku clenched his teeth. _What was that Nightmare...? Not just any Dream Eater could do this..._

“Look...try to rest, all right?” he uttered quietly. “It's just gonna spread faster if you keep pushing yourself...”

He glanced down as the hair slipped away from the back of Terra's neck, his breathing still labored...Riku held him steady as best he could, lapsing into silence as he watched him. They were both cut from the same cloth, really, though Terra was bigger, but injury aside, with Terra's broad shoulders and strong physique, Riku hadn't expected him to feel so brittle in his arms.

_Strength to protect what matters._

The words came back to him once again like they so often had, for most of his life. The first real lesson he'd ever learned, and one that he had been pursuing ever since.

Had something happened to make Terra lose that strength?

Terra sat up slowly again, moving a hand to his head and tossing Riku a slight smile in apology.

“Well...good night.”

“Yeah. Good night.”

Riku stayed awake, however, for some time after Terra had fallen asleep under the tree next to the fire, thinking. A habit he had gotten himself into when he was by himself, and had nobody's schedule to adhere to except his own. He did, however, eventually feel himself growing tired, hesitating one last time and closing his eyes as he had before, sensing the dangers of the night.

Nothing came to him, and his shoulders relaxed a little...he folded his arms over his knees and set his head down in them to sleep, listening to the crackle of the dying fire and Terra's shallow breathing nearby. Despite his reluctance, he drifted off surprisingly quickly, his body tilting to one side as he did so...before long, he had crumpled onto the ground as well, curling up next to Terra's front as he fell into a deep sleep.

He was falling. Down, further and further, and...no, not falling.

Riku twisted around, righting himself so that he was plummeting headfirst through the nondescript debris and surrounding darkness...it was all so familiar.

_Am I...diving?_

He summoned his keyblade as he shot downward, the debris spiraling slowly around him...earth, mostly, broken pieces and shards of rock among suspended flecks of dirt and rubble...and metal, broken crumbling remnants of heavy, rusted chains. Riku flattened his arms and legs to dive faster, his eyes darting around as he did so and trying to get his bearings.

_Is this a dream? Or am I really deep diving? Is there...even a difference?_

He couldn't even see where he was going; it was too dark. Had he inadvertently jumped into Sora's dreams again? He hadn't thought it was possible, he had tried before while they were searching for Sora's whereabouts and he had failed. What had changed?

He dodged out of the way as a large, heavy chunk of metal chain link flew past him and nearly struck him in the head...it was caked in mud and dirt and rust, and nearly as thick as Riku's waist. He watched it fly off behind him into nothingness, then looked back down into the swirling dark he was diving into. As he got closer, he could see deep gauges and cracks, not in the surrounding debris but the foundation of the empty realm itself, as though the reality he now found himself falling through had somehow become fragmented.

_No...this isn't Sora._

But then, whose heart was he diving into?

The further he dove, the deeper and more oppressive the darkness was becoming...it permeated the air, making it hard to breathe, but Riku had no choice but to keep plummeting into it. Yen Sid and Mickey had never taught him how to break out of a dive, and Riku hadn't imagined that he would find himself using the power of waking without meaning to.

 _I told Terra I needed more practice,_ he found himself thinking. _I may have gained the power, but it looks like I don't have full control over it yet._

“ _...Riku...”_

He felt as though he had been diving down forever...how deep did the depths go? This wasn't like diving into a sleeping world; it was still, silent, vast and endless, and the darkness pressing in around him was becoming suffocating.

_I need to get out of here. I don't even know where I am, or how I got here._

“ _...Riku. Hey. Riku...”_

“Huh?” Riku looked around, wondering if he had heard anything at all...inexplicably, he could feel himself slowing down as he dove. Even the swirling debris around him seemed to be grinding to a halt, though the darkness was just as thick.

“ _...Riku. Wake up...”_

That voice...he recognized it.

“Riku!”

“Uh?!”

Riku jumped, his eyes flying open to find Terra leaning over him, shaking his shoulder lightly to wake him up. He stared upwards for a moment, startled, and Terra smiled slightly, sitting back and resting his arm on his knee.

“You're really not a morning person, are you?” he murmured.

Riku sat up, shaking his head a little to clear it.

_Just...a dream? Or..._

“Yeah...” he said slowly. “I guess not.”

It _was_ morning, he realized. He could hear birds chirping somewhere among the trees in the clearing, and the water nearby sparkled brightly in the sunlight, in start contrast to the depths of the darkness Riku thought he had been falling into just moments before.

Terra tilted his head a little, lifting his eyebrows as he tried to peer into Riku's face and catch his gaze.

“You...okay?”

“Y...yeah,” Riku said again, rolling his shoulders...he seemed to be in one piece. “Just a weird dream.”

He glanced over at Terra, studying him for a moment...he looked pale. Riku motioned to his back.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

Terra moved one hand around his ribs to indicate where the black tendrils had spread halfway across his side throughout the night, but shook his head.

“I can keep moving,” he assured. “But we better get going soon.”

Riku nodded, getting up and dusting himself off before extending a hand down to his mentor to pull him to his feet as well.

“Hey...Terra.”

“Hm?” Terra glanced down as his arm was draped over Riku's shoulders again, but Riku wasn't looking at him.

“The power of waking...you and Aqua must have learned how to use it before you took your Mark of Mastery exam. Right?”

“Huh?” Taken aback, Terra lifted his eyebrows again in surprise as he watched Riku's profile. “Well...yeah. It was part of our training...a big part. You can't be named a master without that power.” He shook his head. “What's up?”

“I just...” Riku paused...he didn't like talking about things that were weighing on his mind, usually, but somehow it didn't bother him quite as much when it was just Terra listening. “Sometimes I wonder if Master Yen Sid made the right choice.”

“You mean, when he gave you your Mark?”

Riku nodded, relieved that Terra understood without him having to go into it...he looked up as Terra pulled away from him for a moment, feeling a pair of large hands set down on his shoulders.

“You're gonna tell one of the greatest keyblade masters in the world that he was wrong?” Terra asked, smiling.

Riku let out a slight laugh, glancing away self-consciously. “Well...when you put it like that...”

Terra shook his head.

“You earned it,” he assured. “Fair and square. I always knew that you would.”

“What? Really?” Riku looked at him doubtfully. “Even...back then?”

“Mm. Ever since I first saw you.” Terra's gaze was warm, and Riku felt his shoulders relaxing a little beneath the hands resting on them...he wasn't sure he would have believed anyone else. “Yen Sid doesn't regret naming you master any more than I regret passing on the power of the keyblade to you. This is your destiny, Riku.”

Riku bowed his head, his gaze sliding to one side.

“But...” he hesitated. “Sometimes I don't feel like I've mastered the keyblade at all. Just because I've gained these powers doesn't mean I have control over them.”

“Heh.” Terra leaned down a little to catch Riku's gaze again. “You think a master stops learning just because they become a master?”

Riku's eyes widened, and he lapsed into silence for a few moments, mulling over Terra's words...then, finally, he gave a sheepish laugh, and Terra smiled at him again in response.

“Fair enough.” He moved back into Terra's side to help support his weight, then began to ease slowly out of the clearing with him, his gaze set straight ahead.

“...Thanks,” he added, after a pause.

They continued slowly through the winding cliffs, the sun gradually making its way across the bright blue sky above them...at least they had landed in a relatively peaceful world, Riku reasoned. They could have been fighting their way out, or worse, unable to...

At long last, the tall ridges began to thin, the path slowly descending until, finally, they stepped out onto a wide plane, the landscape opening up in front of them to reveal a grassy expanse that stretched toward the horizon, flowering meadows jostling in the wayward breeze. Far up ahead, more clearly now, a great castle loomed in front of them overlooking a stone bridge built wide across a moat, framed whimsically by the distant mountains behind it.

“All right...finally,” Riku sighed, just as he heard a sharp intake of breath from beside him.

He looked up, but Terra's gaze was straight ahead, his eyes locked on the castle in front of them and his expression drawn tight with something that Riku couldn't quite read.

“What's wrong?”

“...This place...” Terra turned his head away, his voice growing quiet. “I know it after all.”

“You do?”

Terra was silent for a few moments before, finally, he looked back out at the tall stone castle up ahead.

“I've been here before.” His voice grew still lower, and Riku almost had to strain to catch it. “This is...the Enchanted Dominion.”

Riku studied him.

“All right. So what's –,”

Both Terra and Riku started abruptly, their eyes roaming suddenly around the mellow glade at the sound of a piercing scream, the scent of Darkness growing ripe in the air around them.


	3. Marked

“There!”

In the distance, a lone figure – a girl, by the looks of it, her hair golden and glimmering in the sunlight. She stumbled in the glade, her arms flying up to cover her face as the swarm of Heartless encompassed her. Riku and Terra both stirred at the sight, and Riku's hand curled into a fist.

_Did our keyblades draw them to this world?_

“ _Somebody help!”_

“Go,” Terra said sharply, pulling his arm from around Riku's shoulders and wrapping it around his own ribs instead. “I'll catch up.”

“Right.”

Riku's keyblade appeared in hand in a flash of light, and he charged forward across the rolling meadow toward the crowd of Heartless, the scent of Darkness growing ripe in the air around him.

The Braveheart came down through their midst as Riku landed heavily in front of the young woman...she let out a startled cry and stumbled again, but an apology would have to wait. Riku cast a Dark Fireball from his keyblade to knock the Heartless away.

“Riku, over here!”

Riku straightened and looked over his shoulder to find Terra a short ways away leaning beside a rock face, his own keyblade gripped in one hand ...Riku nodded, and turned to the startled young woman beside him.

“Who...who are you?” she inquired, straightening as well...Riku could sense the light radiating from her.

_Could it be?_

There was no time to talk, however.

“We're here to help,” he promised, and motioned to Terra. “Stay with him. He'll keep you safe while I take care of these things.”

“A...all right.”

Riku turned away from her as she lifted the hem of her dress to hurry toward Terra, setting his attention back on the Heartless. Overhead, several more billowed out of the Darkness that stained the area.

“Tch...” Riku backed up a few steps, taking them all in; he needed to keep as many of them away from Terra and the girl as possible. “So that's how it's gonna be, huh...”

He lunged forward, striking down Heartless as he went. Several more tumbled out of the shadows beside the girl as she reached Terra's side, but Terra struck them down from where he stood stationary in one fell swoop from his keyblade, his free arm wrapped around his torso.

“Stay behind me,” he said curtly to the young woman, and she hastily obeyed, pressing her back up against the boulder he was standing in front of with her hands clasped to her chest.

Riku swung his keyblade again and again, freed hearts soaring up into the air like fireworks around him...every so often, the shadows would slip past him only to meet their end at Terra's hand, and as they fought, gradually the waves began to thin.

_Looks like we showed up just in time._

Senses heightening, Riku whipped around in time to see a larger Heartless shudder to life up on the boulder behind Terra and the girl...catching his wild gaze, Terra swung his keyblade blindly upwards in time to parry its sharp claws...it ricocheted away from him, but he dropped to one knee a moment later from the impact radiating through his injured ribs.

Clenching his teeth, Riku disappeared in a flurry of Darkness and reappeared in mid-air as the creature flew backwards from Terra's strike, swinging his own weapon around to cleft it in two.

“On your left,” Terra called sharply, shoving the end of his keyblade into the ground to push himself to his feet again and then swinging it across his body to block an incoming attack from reaching the cowering woman at his side.

“Thanks.” Riku jumped out of the way as another Heartless charged him from the side, calling down a streak of lightning to stop it in its tracks and then taking it out as well.

Slowly but surely, they fought their way through until, finally, the remaining Heartless fell to their keyblades. With a sharp sigh, Riku lowered his weapon at long last, straightening up.

_Talk about a workout._

“Well, that's that.”

He banished his weapon and turned toward Terra and the young maiden again...Terra met his gaze, and they exchanged a brief glance as Riku closed the gap between them. Behind Terra, the girl cautiously stepped forward, still looking about the area for signs of trouble.

“Hey,” Riku greeted as he approached, his eyes sweeping over her. “You okay?”

“Princess! Princess Aurora!”

A new voice from behind them rang out across the glade, and Riku turned in surprise to look over his shoulder, spotting an unfamiliar young man hastening toward them with sword and shield in hand.

“Huh?” Riku said aloud. “Princess?”

He heard a sudden, sharp noise escape Terra, and he glanced over in time to see an odd expression pass over his mentor's features. Terra's dark blue eyes had grown stormy, his lips parting silently as though taken aback by something as his gaze fell again upon the young woman...but before Riku could make sense of the emotions racing across his face, he had turned swiftly away from them both, one arm still folded across his rib cage.

_What's with him?_

“Princess!” The newcomer was out of breath as he reached them, his honest face creased with worry. “Thank goodness...are you all right?”

“Oh...”

Riku watched the young woman hasten to the man, their hands entangling as she reached him.

“Oh yes...yes, I'm just fine.” She turned, her eyes landing on Terra and Riku. “Thanks to these two kind gentlemen.”

“I see...” The man gave a great sigh of relief, and turned more fully to address Riku, bowing his head. “Then I owe you both a great debt of gratitude. To whom do I give thanks for saving my treasured Princess Aurora?”

Riku gestured at himself.

“I'm Riku. And...that's Terra,” he added, glancing over at Terra's back, though the other didn't turn around at the sound of his name. “And...there's no need to thank us. It's our job to get rid of those things.”

The princess, Aurora, nodded.

“Why, yes...you are wielders of the keyblade, are you not?” she inquired. “What luck that you were to find me just as those wretched creatures did.”

Riku gave a slight chuckle, folding his arms.

“So,” he surmised. “You're a Princess of Heart. I thought so.”

He had sensed her light before – it reminded him of Kairi. The princess smiled, closing her eyes and offering him a graceful nod.

“Mm. That's true, I suppose – there was indeed a time where I called that power my own. Though...I don't believe we have met before.”

Riku placed a hand to his chest and bowed respectfully...wishing Terra would do the same, because he still hadn't so much as turned around.

“No, we haven't,” he agreed.

They might have, under different circumstances. Back then, Riku had cared only for power, and gaining more of it through whatever means necessary; even if it meant using the power of Darkness.

“Will you be all right now?” he inquired.

“Yes, yes I will.” Princess Aurora took the hand of the young man beside her. “Now that Prince Phillip is with me. Oh but please – surely there must be some way I can thank you for what you've done.”

Riku rubbed the back of his head.

“That's really not necessary –,” he cut himself off as he spoke, and turned to look back at Terra's slightly-hunched form again. “Actually...”

Aurora clasped her hands in front of herself.

“What is it?” she inquired, tilting her head. “Did you think of something?”

“Maybe...” Riku motioned at Terra. “Well, it's my – my, uh...”

He faltered, unexpectedly finding himself at a sudden loss.

_It's...my..._

His...friend? ...His mentor? His...

What were he and Terra to one another?

“Uh...that's...it's Terra,” he continued instead, rubbing the back of his head. “He got hurt before. Do you think...there's anything you could do?”

Aurora leaned around Riku to peer at Terra as well, then stepped tentatively forward...after a moment, her eyes landed upon the dark gash across the side of his back, just visible through his fingers.

“Oh my...” she exclaimed lightly. “That mark...I see. So it was the Darkness that wounded him.”

“...Yeah,” Riku offered, glancing at Terra again in mild exasperation...why wouldn't he at least look at them?

Princess Aurora seemed unperturbed, however, and a smile graced her fair features as she addressed Riku again.

“I have since passed on my power to another...I am no longer a Princess of Heart,” she said, and Riku's shoulders sagged a little...he recalled Yen Sid saying as much, now. “However...there may still be something I can do.”

“Really?” Riku sighed, sounding relieved as he crossed over to stand beside Terra, trying to look around into his face. “Hear that, Terra? Looks like Princess Aurora's gonna be able to help you.”

“...”

Was he hurt during that fight? Riku wondered, and reached out his hand.

“Hey...Terra...”

“– No,” Terra uttered, knocking Riku's hand to one side as it settled onto his shoulder, turning his head away to hide his expression. “...No – it's – look, I...”

His grip tightened around his ribs, and Riku saw his lip curl slightly...he was clearly in pain still, and Riku didn't understand.

“What gives?” he prompted.

“Oh, do let me help you,” Aurora petitioned softly, venturing still closer...very gently, her hand came to settle on his injured back. “It's the very least I can do...”

Terra jerked away from her touch as though he had been burned, and Riku stared at him...Aurora, however, moved around to stand in front of him, smiling kindly as she leaned forward to peer into his face. Terra tensed visibly, starting to turn his head from her again, but as he caught sight of her smile, he hesitated a moment, and his shoulders lowered...he gave a sigh.

“...You're...really all right,” he uttered quietly.

“Well – yes,” the princess straightened again, tilting her head curiously. “You both did an admirable job in keeping me safe just now.”

“No, that's not what I...”

Terra fell silent again, turning away once more...Riku saw his head lower, and he opened his mouth to tell him to snap out of it, but Aurora spoke first.

“You must be in great pain,” she said sadly. “Please, let me help.”

Terra's head lowered further, and it was a moment before he spoke again.

“I can't let you do that,” he uttered quietly.

“Terra.” Riku shook his head. “What's gotten into you? Why won't you let Princess Aurora do something?”

Terra's head turned slightly in Riku's direction, but then he lowered it back down, his free hand curling into a fist at his side.

“She's the last person that should have to help me,” he uttered lowly. “I won't take advantage of her kindness like this.”

Startled, Riku opened his mouth in exasperation, but the words Terra spoke next were the last he had ever expected to hear.

“I came to this world a long time ago, when Xehanort was searching for the Seven Pure Lights. I was...the one who stole the princess's heart.”

A brief silence had fallen over the glade, save for the gentle breeze and the chirping of birds overhead. Before he could stop himself, an awkward chuckle escaped Riku, and he shook his head a little, staring at Terra's profile.

“What are you talking about?” he asked good-naturedly. “Come on...”

Terra looked over at him, then away again.

“It's true.” His jaw was set sternly, a heavy frown creasing his features. “It was...”

He trailed off, reluctant to speak of it, but then continued regardless.

“I'd only just left home,” he said shortly. “This world...”

He glanced around at it.

“It was the first I visited.” His lip curled a little, and Riku could feel the anger radiating from him. No...not anger.

“When I got here, a spell had been cast over the castle, and everyone was asleep...the princess included,” Terra continued, disgust weighing heavy in his tone. “As a keyblade wielder, it should have been my job to restore peace from conflict beckoned from the seeds of Darkness. But right away, all I did was screw it up.”

He bowed his head, then finally turned to face Aurora fully, his expression unsmiling.

“...I'm sorry,” he uttered lowly. “That day...it was me who stole your heart from you.”

Princess Aurora gazed up at him, but a sharp voice cut from behind them.

“You?” Sword and shield still in hand, the prince, Phillip, had stepped forward, voice lilted in shock.

He and Terra stood across from one another...Terra didn't move to defend himself, however, as the sword was brandished in gesture, a look of mingled bafflement and discontent on the prince's face.

“ _You_ were the monster that came and helped that evil witch strip the princess of her heart all those years ago?!”

“ – Hey!”

Surprised at the sharpness in his own voice, Riku came to stand defensively in front of Terra, lifting one arm as though to shield him from the harsh words that had already been spilled. He shook his head firmly.

“There's no way that's true,” he said, without hesitation.

Terra looked over at him, a soft, slightly saddened smile playing across his features...touched that Riku had so much faith in him, even when he shouldn't. Riku ignored him, standing his ground.

“Look, I'm sure there was some kind of misunderstanding,” Riku continued. "Not just anybody can --,"

Prince Phillip shook his head.

“But 'tis true – the princess's heart _was_ taken. A foul witch saw to it, and it was only thanks to myself and another of these – these _keyblade wielders_ that it was then restored.”

Behind Riku, Terra looked up.

“Another?”

The confounded prince nodded, still stern. “A boy, with wild blonde hair and kind eyes. I surely would not have survived my quest had it not been for his help.”

Terra expelled a low breath, and Riku felt him wilt slightly, his tone grim.

“...Ven,” he uttered. “So...he chased me to this world, too. And cleaned up my mess.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to face the princess Aurora again.

“So, now you know,” he said quietly. “You see, I couldn't trick you again. Letting you use your powers to help me, after what I did...it wouldn't have been right.”

Riku frowned at Terra, his expression still puzzled. He couldn't read the look in his mentor's eyes, but it bothered him, almost as much as the situation did.

_None of this makes any sense..._

A silence fell, and Riku shifted his weight uneasily. Terra's form was stoic, but the emotions radiating from him were as difficult to untangle as the situation he had described. To steal a heart was...

“Why?” demanded the prince, wrought with discontent, though he did not raise his sword again. “What could have brought you to commit such an act while the princess slept?!”

Terra looked away, closing his eyes.

“I...” He moved a hand up to his head, his eyebrows drawing together as his fingers dug into the side of his face. “...It's...”

Riku pushed between them.

“Look,” he started. “Terra, I don't know what you think happened, but...”

Terra's gaze lifted slowly, and he stiffened, his voice growing suddenly sharp.

“What the –,”

“Terra?”

“Riku, behind you!”

Riku turned and ducked on instinct, a clawed hand swiping at him overhead and just missing him as a result...he summoned his keyblade again, but then did a double-take.

_Huh?! More Heartless?_

But the creature that had materialized behind him was not, in fact, a Heartless at all, and Riku's eyes widened in disbelief as it loomed up over them all, its body dragon-like and entrenched in thick black thorns, its skeletal cage hollow but for a ball of green fire pulsating within. Across its crow-like forehead, a pure white symbol gleamed.

_...Another Dream Eater?!_

And a big one, too, though unlike any Riku had seen before. Taller than both Riku and Terra, and more than twice as wide...both Riku and Prince Phillip drew their weapons, and Terra stepped swiftly in front of Princess Aurora, lifting the arm that wasn't clutching his ribs to shield her from harm.

“Hey,” Riku called to the prince, his voice slightly strained. “Look, stand back. You don't know what you're dealing with –,”

But the prince's gaze was resolute.

“This creature – it's not unlike the form of the wicked witch who once ruled these lands,” he cried. “'Tis a witch I've defeated once before – the dark queen, Maleficent!”

“Maleficent?!” Both Terra and Riku spoke in tandem, and their eyes met in surprise as the word left one anothers' lips.

 _Does Terra know Maleficent, too?_ Riku wondered.

He jumped out of the way as the Dream Eater's tail swung around toward him, lifting his keyblade to parry the blow and then springing from his back foot in a counterattack. Old habits died hard, and he swung the Braveheart down in the same motion with which he had once handled his Soul Eater...the Dream Eater coiled backwards with an angry shriek, injured, and thrashed around. Riku's eyes widened.

“Look out!”

Prince Phillip raised his shield, but with one fell swoop, the beast had knocked him away...he sailed through the air and crumpled a short ways from Terra and the princess, down for the count.

“Tch...” Clenching his teeth, Riku spun back around to face the Nightmare, in time to see it rise up on its back feet. “So you wanna play rough, huh?!”

It slammed heavily into the ground, shattering the earth beneath...green flames licked the jagged cracks that marred the darkening meadow, though Riku felt no heat from them.

 _Dark fire,_ he realized.

Not unlike his own, except in color. He inclined his head grimly, then grasped his keyblade in both hands and charged forward into battle with the Nightmare. It was strong, he realized as the fires blazed around him. Not as strong as the one that they had clashed with in the Lanes Between, but this was no ordinary Dream Eater.

And it reeked of the Darkness.

He struck it once, twice, and it lashed out at him, its massive claws curled around its feet barely missing his lithe torso...he ducked around it and attacked it from the side, ducking to avoid the horned tail that whipped around to strike him in the back.

_Faster than I thought..._

Riku's feet left the ground, and he turned his attention inward, a familiar surge of power racing through him.

“Darkness!”

He became a blur, transient as he raced back and forth through the body of the Nightmare, then landing a short distance away, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. The creature roared again, and Riku rolled out of the way as a plume of fire struck the ground where he had stood just moments before, but as he straightened up, the Dream Eater's tail swung around again and caught him in the side.

Riku felt the wind being knocked out of him as his feet left the ground again, the momentum of the blow carrying him several feet through the air before he slammed up against an outcropping of rock and crumpled to the ground.

“Riku!”

Terra hastened forward on instinct, but then fell heavily against his keyblade, his teeth clenching...across his side, the dark mark spread further, the writhing tendrils began to creep down his arm and up his neck from beneath the lining of his shirt...he tightened his grip around the hilt of the Earthshaker, pausing to pull himself together, and started a little as he felt a hand on his back.

Princess Aurora smiled down at him softly, and Terra quickly averted his gaze, his head lowering as she tried to meet his eyes.

“Please,” she said lightly. “Let me help you, Terra. Your fellow guardian needs you.”

Terra's lips parted, and he cast his eyes downward, his shoulders lowering a little.

“But I...”

Aurora leaned down to peer into his face, her hand still resting on his back to support him...she offered him a reassuring smile.

“I can sense the Light in you,” she said warmly. “And it is kind, and gentle. I know you would never truly have wished to cause me harm, those many years ago. Isn't that right?”

Terra looked over at her hesitantly.

“Whatever it is that troubles you now...” The princess moved her hand over his injured side. "It's been eating away at your heart the same way this wound eats away at your body. The longer you keep such things all bottled up inside, the faster this Darkness will spread."

Terra's eyes flickered toward the tendrils that had started to creep down his arm, the ends curling around his bicep and lingering there as Aurora spoke...he moved his hand up to hide them from view and glanced off to one side again.

“There's...there's nothing...troubling me.”

The princess smiled, then closed her eyes, bowing her head in concentration...beneath her palm, a pure, brilliant light began to glow.

“I can take away the marks on your skin, and the pain...but I can't heal what's truly been broken within,” she told him...the light was warm against his back, seeping into the gash left behind by the Nightmare...it began to travel upward, chasing away the dark tendrils that crept across his body and easing the pain that wracked his body. “You shall need something more than Light for that.”

Aurora opened her eyes, and Terra looked down at himself...the discomfort was gone, as was the Darkness that had encompassed him. He moved a hand to his ribs, his fingertips brushing the raised skin of a residual scar where the Nightmare's attack had struck him, but no other marks remained. He looked up at the princess again.

“...Thank you,” he uttered quietly, his voice sincere.

Princess Aurora smiled.

“There isn't time,” she urged. “Hurry.”

“Right.”

Riku blocked a strike from the Dream Eater's gnashing jaws, and then another, and another...his foot ground a little deeper into the earth with each blow, but as it reared its head back to lunge at him again, he saw an opening and took the opportunity to fling his keyblade upward in a strike raid, jumping backwards as he did so to clear some ground between himself and the massive creature before summoning his weapon back to his hand. It stumbled, but its erratic movements threw him off-guard, and he saw its clawed talon lashing out at him a moment too late.

He hit the ground and rolled a short distance away, clutching his chest for a moment as he found himself on his back. He lifted his head, paling as the Dream Eater loomed over him, raising one of its massive feet into the air again...Riku flinched and drew the Braveheart across himself defensively, squeezing his eyes shut and curling up as he braced for the blow.

There was a resounding clash of metal, and Riku's eyes flew open again in time to see a massive keyblade collide with the underside of the Dream Eater's foot...with great strength, Terra managed to drive it backwards far enough to then drive the end of the Earthshaker down into the ground. Great chunks of rock and stone flew upwards around the Nightmare in a golden glow, striking it from underneath and knocking it over onto its back.

“Terra!”

Terra looked over his shoulder, then turned toward Riku, extending a hand down to him.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his eyes sweeping over the younger wielder in concern...Riku reached out and grasped his hand.

“Yeah,” he assured, finding himself being lifted onto his feet as easily as though he were made of air. “Your injury...?”

“I'm fine now.” Terra turned back toward the Dream Eater as it righted itself, falling back into a fighting stance. “Let's finish this thing off.”

“Right.” Riku hurried up beside Terra and raised his keyblade as well. “Think I wore it down.”

They both faced the Nightmare again. Its attention honed in on Terra immediately, and Riku took the opportunity to run around the side of it, jumping up and swinging his keyblade down across its back as Terra parried with its gnashing jaws...it whipped around, striking out at them, and Terra ran around to flank it.

“Riku!” he called, and Riku understood.

Both keyblades began to glow, and Riku and Terra fell into similar stances, drawing their weapons back...the Nightmare whipped around again, and they both launched forward at the same time. A streak of light was left in their wake as they both rushed through its body, the trail lingering in the form of an arced cross where the strikes had landed. The Dream Eater writhed and then collapsed just as the two wielders' feet hit the ground again, and they both turned back to face it.

In unison, they jumped, swinging their keyblades down over their heads...light saturated the field, drowning out the battle. It was a few moments before it cleared, and as it did so, both Riku and Terra straightened next to one another where they had landed, the remains of the Dream Eater disintegrating around them.

The dark haze that seemed to have saturated the sprawling meadows lifted away, the sun kissing the lush green grass and scattered flower petals littered about the battlefield.

Riku caught Terra looking over at him hesitantly, and grinned back at him...a slight smile passed over Terra's feature as well, and he raised his forearm to touch it against Riku's.

“Nice going,” he murmured.

“You too.” Riku set his hand on his hip. “Guess we make a good team.”

“Hm.” Terra set a hand briefly on Riku's shoulder as he passed by. “Come on.”

The prince was stirring as they approached, and Princess Aurora graced them with a grateful smile and a curtsy.

“We are in your debt once again,” she said sweetly, and beside her, the prince bowed as well.

“Forgive my impetuousness earlier,” he uttered, and Terra lowered his eyes a little. “My words were unjustified.”

“Are you both all right?” Riku inquired, and they nodded. “Seen anything like that thing before?”

“Oh no, I don't believe we have.”

Riku and Terra glanced at each other, and Riku jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

“You'd best get back to the castle,” he suggested. “We'll take another look around, just in case. But, somehow, I think it was here for us. We'll be leaving soon.”

“You have our thanks.” The princess Aurora smiled gracefully at them both, and her shimmering gaze lingered on Terra for just a moment. “Remember my words.”

Riku glanced over at Terra questioningly, but Terra had already looked away again.

They watched the prince and princess make their way back up to the tall, looming castle, accompanying them as far as the long bridge over the moat. It was only once they had crossed safely that Terra let out a quiet sigh of relief, turning to face Riku.

“Come on,” he uttered. “Let's check around the area little more and then get out of here. No use in wasting any more time.”

“Yeah...” Riku shook his head. “Something's up. It's weird enough to have _one_ Dream Eater show up out of the blue, but two?”

Terra folded his arms across his chest, thinking.

“Think it has something to do with what Yen Sid said?”

Riku glanced at him.

“You mean about the land without time? I dunno...maybe.”

Riku shrugged, and Terra's shoulders lowered as he let out another sigh...he uncrossed his arms and summoned his keyblade again, throwing it out in front of them and letting it transform into a glider.

“No use thinking about it now,” he said, swinging his leg over it. “Let's go.”

“Right.” Riku climbed up behind him, leaning forward to wrap his arms around his mentor's waist but then hesitating. “...Hey...Terra...”

Terra started to look over his shoulder, and felt Riku's fingertips graze the skin showing through the rip in his shirt, over the scar that the Nightmare's attack had left behind. He faced forward again.

“The Darkness always leaves a mark,” he dismissed, thinking of his master Eraqus's face, and one of Xehanort's vessels, Braig, that they had fought together not long ago. “Forget about it.”

Riku shook his head.

“It's not that...” His frown deepened, his expression sobering...Terra looked back at him again.

“What is it, then?”

Riku was silent for a few moments, tracing slowly over the scar...he hadn't gotten a good look before, when the mark was enshrouded in Darkness. He ran his fingers down one side of it, and then the other, his movements forming the shape of a perfect “X”.

“...The Recusant's Sigil,” Riku murmured. “But how...?”

He looked up.

“...Terra. That Nightmare from before...it's tracking you.”


	4. Beneath the Stars

_I can't see._

_I can't speak._

_I can't move._

_Not again._

_Where am I?_

_How long have I been like this?_

_How long...will I be like this?_

_Someone..._

_Just put an end to me._

The Lanes Between were as still and silent as ever. Riku's keyblade was summoned at his side on the back of the glider nonetheless, but as they traveled through the forbidden corridors, they were very much alone.

His eyes lingered on Terra's armored back, but neither of them said much. Perhaps they were too similar in that regard; when there was something on their mind, they both retreated inward to contemplate it.

But perhaps he had also spent too much time around the King...and Sora, for that matter. Or maybe the long journey he had taken to this point had changed him, at least a little. Maybe it was just that he'd never really gotten a chance to talk to someone he really wanted to talk to until now, but he surprised even himself when he was the first to speak.

“Hey,” he uttered, though it was a few moments before he saw Terra's helmet turn slightly toward him in acknowledgment. “Maleficent – how do you know her?”

Terra faced forward again.

“We go way back.”

Riku ducked his head.

“You and me both,” he muttered. “So then...you must have fought her when the worlds first began to fall. When she first met Xehanort.”

“Something like that.”

Riku hesitated, but he had seen Terra's hands tighten subtly around the handlebars of his glider at the mention of Xehanort's name, and he lapsed into silence again. It wasn't as though Xehanort was a subject he was eager to dwell on, either.

_Besides – he's gone now._

“Hey – look.”

Thoughts interrupted, Riku's gaze shifted over the front of Terra's shoulder, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. They had been navigating the barren lanes for so long that he had almost gotten used to the emptiness, and the sight of a distant world rising up before them was a surreal experience...in the gloom, his eyes took a moment to adjust to its radiance.

“...Yen Sid's tower,” he uttered.

One never knew where it was going to pop up, but there it was, shining brightly down on them like a mystical beacon of light. The timing was, as always, impeccable, and Riku didn't believe for a moment that they had run into it by accident.

“Let's go,” he prompted. “He might know something about those Dream Eaters we ran into.”

Terra hesitated, tension rippling visibly through his body, but a moment later he leaned the glider to one side so they could veer down toward it...Riku could sense an aura of mounting reluctance as he did so, but in his experience, Terra was usually reluctant to interact with pretty much anyone who wasn't Aqua or Ventus. Even when they had fought together in the Keyblade Graveyard to bring down Organization XIII, Riku didn't recall him speaking a single word to anyone who wasn't them...or Riku.

_That's right...every time he had something to say, he'd only say it to one of us, even if everyone else was there too._

Still...it wasn't as though Yen Sid was a stranger to any of the Guardians; he was, after all, the oldest surviving keyblade master in all the Worlds, and precisely the person Riku wanted to see after the unusual start to their journey. And even if Terra wouldn't speak to him, that was just something Riku would have to chalk up to one of many “Terra-isms” that he hadn't quite figured out yet, and resigned himself to having to do most of the talking himself.

The sound of crickets punctuated the musty night air as they landed; night seemed perpetual around the Mysterious Tower, and Riku paused for a moment at the base of the steps to crane his neck upwards, contemplating the dark ocean of space above them.

Terra came up beside him, following his gaze questioningly.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Ah, it's nothing.” Riku tossed him a slight smile. “Just...there's no view of the stars like there is from here.”

“You think?”

They both surveyed the swirling galaxies and rich clusters of crystalline bodies stretched across the night sky, entities that shone down on them like diamonds...in the gloom of the silent tower, there was something mesmerizing about it.

“Hard to believe there's so many worlds out there besides our own.”

The comment prompted Riku's gaze to trail sideways, lingering on Terra's profile and the burning light of the stars reflected in his eyes. He looked almost peaceful, though perhaps a little sad.

“Kairi's grandmother used to tell her stories about it,” Riku offered. “All those lights are what survived in peoples' hearts, after some great battle.”

“That's right. So, you know your stuff.” Terra nodded approvingly. “Long ago, people fought over the Light. That's how Darkness was born.”

“Hunh...”

“Yep.” Moving forward, Terra sank slowly down onto the stone steps leading up to the Mysterious Tower...after a moment, Riku came to sit next to him, watching him expectantly for more. “From then on, it became the duty of the keyblade wielders to protect that Light. The ancient masters passed down the power of the keyblade to their apprentices, and...so long as they had the makings, the power became theirs.”

Riku stared at him, and he smiled a little.

“That's how it's always been.” Terra leaned back, stretching out one hand to summon his keyblade and looking up at it. “Even with us. My master passed it down to me, and then...I passed it on to you.”

He held the Earthshaker out to Riku, who closed his fingers around the handle, the edge of his hand grazing Terra's for a moment as he took it from him.

“That so?” The keyblade was heavy, but with some effort he managed to hold it in front of him. “But then...that history nearly ended with me.”

His grip tightened around the Earthshaker, his gaze hard as it swept over the scarred metal surface.

“That's how Sora got caught up in all of this,” he concluded after a pause...he could feel Terra watching him quietly. “Because...I _didn't_ have the makings. You trusted me with the keyblade, but in the end, I wasn't strong enough, and I succumbed to Darkness. I lost my power.”

Unexpectedly, he felt a warm grip on his shoulder then, and he looked over in surprise to see Terra smiling softly at him.

“But then you got it back,” he murmured. “That takes even greater strength.”

“Terra...”

The hand on his shoulder meant more to him than Terra probably realized, and Riku smiled slightly, lifting the Earthshaker with visible effort up against the dazzling sky above them. It was a subject he'd learned not to dwell on, but it was times like these, in the stillness and quiet, that the same thoughts always returned to him regardless. Maybe it would always be like that...part of the price he had to pay along with the power he had surrendered in exchange for the Darkness...even so, he felt better all of a sudden, and glanced over at Terra again, passing the Earthshaker back to him.

“How d'you learn about all these things?” he asked.

Terra's expression sobered, and he lifted the hefty weapon in one hand with practiced ease, regarding it intently.

“My master,” he said quietly at last. “He...taught me everything I know.”

Riku glanced at him, and he flipped the Earthshaker around to shove the end of it into the ground below them.

“Aqua told me...he was struck down,” Riku ventured.

_That man...the one from the tower where Sora defeated Xehanort. Aqua, Terra, and Ven called him 'Master'..._

“That's right.”

Riku folded his arms across his knees, rocking back on his heels a little.

“Was it...Xehanort? Did he...” he asked, a lilt of hesitation creeping into his tone as Terra turned his head away.

A silence fell between them again, but the warmth had faded, and Riku felt a dull ache creep in his chest that he couldn't quite place...a cool breeze picked up across the silent garden, and despite himself, he shivered slightly. It was a familiar feeling, and for just a moment he was reminded of falling...

“It was my fault.”

Riku looked around in surprise, not having expected Terra to continue the conversation at all...but his profile had grown hard, his strong jaw set tersely as he looked ahead.

“Huh?”

Terra folded his arms across his knees in much the same way Riku had, though his fingertips dug into his arms just a little, his tone rigid as though he were delivering some kind of formal report.

“It's what Xehanort wanted, but...that day, what happened was...it was all because of me.” He shook his head, but Riku didn't buy into the seemingly expressionless look on his face for a moment...something in his voice gave him away. “The master, he was...like a father to me. I owed everything to him, but...all I did was play right into Xehanort's hands. And now...he's gone, because of me.”

The breeze gusted through the outskirts of the old tower once more, and Riku studied Terra's visage for a few moments...he wanted to say something comforting, or perhaps inspiring – he was a keyblade master, after all, wasn't he? – but what he blurted out was entirely different.

“You mean, the same way Princess Aurora's heart was lost, because of you?” he prompted brazenly, his tone unapologetic.

He hadn't meant the dry skepticism in his voice to come out the way it had, and he groaned inwardly as Terra cast a soft glance toward him.

_Why am I so bad at this? Sora...you'd know what to say._

“Terra,” he said finally. “About...the princess, and what you said before –,”

He hesitated, but before he could continue, Terra was unfurling himself and getting to his feet, offering Riku a gentle smile as he glanced down at him.

“Come on,” he murmured. “We should go and find Master Yen Sid.”

“No – wait –,” Without thinking, Riku reached out as Terra turned away, grabbing him by the wrist from the bottom of the steps...in surprise, Terra looked back down at him, but Riku only tightened his grip. “Listen to me...”

He paused briefly before plunging recklessly onward, and Terra didn't interrupt.

“When my islands fell to the Darkness...” Riku shook his head. “I plunged into it headfirst without looking back. Maleficent took me under her wing, and my powers grew stronger. Before long, I could even command the Heartless.”

For just a moment, he hesitated to meet Terra's gaze, then looked up imploringly nonetheless...but he found no judgment in the hard blue eyes looking back at him, and his shoulders relaxed slightly.

“I embraced the darkness and became the perfect vessel for Ansem – I mean, Xehanort's Heartless. I lost my ability to wield the keyblade, too, and fought with a weapon of the dark instead. But...”

He shook his head, Terra's thin wrist still tightly in his grasp.

“But after all that...Terra...at the end of my journey, even I couldn't steal the hearts of others.”

Terra hesitated, watching him...though he didn't say anything, he had stilled somehow, as though listening more carefully.

“Only a denizen of the dark can do that.” Riku offered him at last, a firm smile passing over his features before he let go, looking up from the base of the stone steps. “...No one else.”

“Riku...”

Riku shrugged a little, then set his hands on his hips. “Maybe...something to think about?”

Terra lapsed into silence again at first, looking a little lost in thought...after a few moments, however, he glanced over, offering a nod and a slight smile.

“Maybe so,” he murmured hesitantly. “Thanks, Riku.”

Riku rubbed his nose smugly, then began to make his way up the steps to Terra's side.

“What made you think it was you hurt the princess, anyway?” he asked offhandedly as they made their way in, their footsteps echoing off the polished marble floors.

Terra faltered at the question, moving a hand up to rub the back of his head.

“Well...”

“What?”

Terra glanced away, a lilt of reluctance in his tone.

“I guess...it was Maleficent,” he said finally, looking ashamed of himself. “She...put me under a spell. And when I woke up, the princess's heart was...”

He trailed off, and the tower settled into silence for a moment.

“ _Huh?”_

Despite everything, a sudden burst of laughter tumbled out of Riku before he could stop it, and the sound coaxed Terra to look over at him in surprise again.

“Really, Maleficent?” he prompted, attempting to sound serious before more laughter bubbled over into his words. “ _Maleficent_ was the one who told you that you'd stolen somebody's heart?”

Terra's eyes widened a little, and he quickly looked down, his eyebrows drawing together.

“Well...I...”

Laughing hard, Riku punched him playfully in the shoulder. “And you believed her? Well...what made you think _that_ was a good idea? Dummy.”

Terra glanced up again uncertainly, his gaze questioning as it swept over Riku's grinning face...but after a few moments, he offered a cautious chuckle as well, rubbing his shoulder where Riku had hit him.

“Hey...come on...” He gave Riku a light shove in retaliation, enough to make him stumble slightly, but then chuckled again, quietly at first, and then more genuinely.

Riku grinned at him, shoving him back...and the uneasiness in the air seemed to fade away. Before long, their laughter was rising freely into the high, twisted ceilings of the old tower, unmindful of the gloomy din that pressed in around them, both of them doubled over despite it all.

Struggling to regain himself, Terra offered Riku a warm but slightly apologetic smile, as though he wasn't sure whether it was really all right to do so.

“Geez...” Riku chuckled, turning to start the long journey up the spiraling staircase ahead of them. “Let's go.”

“Yeah.” Terra paused a moment behind him, thinking...turning to look up behind them back at the night sky.

Riku glanced back.

“What's up?” he asked, a hint of amusement still lingering in his tone.

“Just thinking.” Terra's gaze fell upon him warmly. “Makes me think of the stars back home. Remind me to take you to see them some time. The view might be even better than this one.”

He nodded, then began to ascend the endless steps before them at Riku's heel, a hesitant smile lingering on his face as they went.

Whereas Riku had come to know Yen Sid as a wise and powerful ally who had been introduced to him amidst a time of great strife at the behest of the King, Terra's mannerisms in the presence of a grand master had evidently been trained into him thoroughly and properly from a very young age...something Riku had not expected to become so suddenly, vehemently aware of as the two of them stepped forward into the enchanted room at the very top of the Mysterious Tower.

“Hey – Master Yen Sid,” he greeted, raising a hand in greeting and relieved to see the old sage sitting severely behind his wide oak desk, as always. “It's been a while – wh – h-hey!”

Finding himself grasped unceremoniously by the scruff of the neck without any warning whatsoever, Riku stumbled forward as he was forced into a bow at Terra's behest, his hand flying up to grasp bony fingers in protest and struggling in vain to right himself while Terra rumbled at him under his breath.

“What are you doing?!”

“What are _you_ doing?!” Terra hissed back.

“Ow – cut it out –!”

“Show some respect! What, were you raised in a barn?”

“I – was raised – on an island –!” Riku squirmed indignantly beneath his grasp. “Let go of me...!”

“Do you even know where we are?!”

“What's the big idea?!”

“Riku, Terra.”

Yen Sid's tone was ever-somber, his deep voice reverberating around the quaint interior of the study and cutting through the hushed utterances being exchanged at the foot of his desk...both Riku and Terra grew still at the sound, though Terra kept his hand firmly on the back of Riku's neck as they lingered in a deep bow before the master as he looked between the two of them.

“You may rise.”

Riku jerked upright as Terra let go of him, rubbing the back of his neck as he shot an exasperated look over at him...but Terra was facing forward, standing at attention with a look not unlike the rather severe one that Yen Sid was fixing them both with.

“Master Yen Sid,” Riku greeted again at last. “I was hoping you'd be here.”

“Yes...” Yen Sid stroked his beard intently as he looked between the two of them. “It has been quite some time, Riku. And...Terra...”

Terra drew himself up, still standing at attention.

“How many years have passed since you last set foot in here, I wonder? But then...you are not the young man that sought my council all those years ago. Not anymore.”

Riku glanced between the two of them, but Terra remained silent, and Riku couldn't make heads nor tails of the expression that graced his sharp features where he stood.

“...Master Yen Sid,” he acknowledged finally.

Yen Sid sat back in his tall, high-backed chair and placed his long fingers together, surveying the two of them with deep intent.

“The stars bring with them troubling news,” he uttered. “Tell me, what has happened?”

Riku looked at Terra again, wary of being tackled again for saying or doing the wrong thing, then promptly launched into explanation. He told Yen Sid all about how they had set out together only to be attacked by the mysterious Dream Eater shrouded in Darkness, how they had crash-landed in another world only to find more Nightmares hot on their trail. He apologized that they had yet to even reach their destination, and warned of how powerful the enemy was that they had found themselves facing. He wasted no time in voicing his doubts and suspicions about the string of events that had unfolded on their path, not to mention the gut feeling he had that there was something going on that he hadn't yet put his finger on. When he got to the part about the Recusant's Sigil, Yen Sid's sharp eyes flickered over to Terra, studying him unflinchingly while Riku described how they had been helped by one of the Princesses of Heart.

It was some time later, when at last their tale had been recounted in full, that the old sage sat back heavily in his chair, placing his fingertips together again in deep contemplation.

“I see...”

Riku and Terra glanced at one another, the air in the room growing heavy as Yen Sid mulled over the situation...his wild brow furrowed, and the troubled look lining his aged features gave Riku little reassurance.

Finally, he shook his head, placing his hands upon the tabletop and addressing them once again.

“This is indeed a grave situation,” he uttered. “One that I must spend further time in contemplation of.”

He reached out, motioning to the small side room tucked away at the corner of his study.

“It is best that you rest for now. The Good Fairies will see to you next door. You are both a sight for sore eyes as it stands.”

Riku looked down at himself...he supposed Yen Sid had a point. They were both covered in dust and scuff marks from their crash landing into the Enchanted Dominion, their clothes tattered from the fall and the ensuing battles with Heartless and Dream Eaters.

“Thank you, Master.”

They turned, but then Yen Sid spoke again from his desk before they could leave.

“Terra.” Riku glanced over at Terra, who hesitated before looking back over his shoulder to meet Yen Sid's unrelenting gaze. “That mark on your back...does it still pain you?”

Terra inclined his head.

“No, Master.”

Yen Sid sat back.

“The Darkness always leaves a mark,” he murmured.

Terra said nothing, but Riku's hand came to settle reassuringly on his broad shoulder in much the same way Terra had comforted him earlier.

“Come on,” he murmured lightly.

“...Even I cannot erase what has been left behind,” came Yen Sid's voice from behind them again, his words as cryptic as ever. “That which has chosen you to bear the sigil of the Recusant, Terra...one day, you will have to face it.”

Riku glanced over at Terra, but Terra remained silent with his back to the master...his expression hadn't changed, but somehow, Riku thought he looked tired.

_Never mind that._

“No problem.” Riku set his hands triumphantly on his hips, surprising Yen Sid by tossing him a carefree smile before lifting his gaze to meet Terra's with unflinching determination. “Whatever it is, we'll be ready.”

“Riku...”

Riku shook his head, cutting him off. “Don't worry. You won't have to go it alone this time, Terra. That's a promise.”


End file.
